Subsidizing new nuclear power such as Vogtle reactors in nation’s interest

Adding two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle is going to need some help from Congress and the federal government to work, according to Georgia Power’s request to continue. And it is in the national interest to subsidize new nuclear power the way the government is helping wind and solar power technologies, a nuclear engineer said. Georgia Power and its partners made the request to the Georgia Public Service Commission last week to finish Reactors 3 and 4 at Vogtle, which would be the first new nuclear reactors to come on line in the U.S. in more than 30 years. Georgia Power said its capital cost to complete would be an additional $4.5 billion, raising it to $8.771 billion, with a total capital cost for all partners of $19 billion. However, in a table buried deep in its filing, the company reports financing costs of just under $4 billion, […]